Girls' creativity less visible: Mathematics and language teachers' ratings of male and female students' creativity

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate how mathematics and language teachers recognize the creativity of male and female students. The study used a random selection of 2028 students (1242 females and 786 males) as well as 219 teachers (110 math and 109 language) from 110 different high schools. The study found that girls' creative potential had a stronger association (z = 2.84; p < .01) with their creativity ratings given by language teachers (β = 0.24; p < .001) than with math teachers' ratings (β = 0.13; p < .001). Boys' creative potential was similarly correlated with their creativity ratings from both language (β = 0.25; p < .001) and math teachers (β = 0.23; p < .001), showing no significant difference (z = 0.42; p > .05). Further analysis indicated a stronger correlation between math teachers' creativity ratings and boys' creative potential compared to girls' (z = 2.27; p < .05), while language teachers' creativity ratings were similarly correlated with the creative potential of both genders (z = −0.23; p > .05). The results obtained in the study are discussed in the light of stereotypes about gender differences in math and language abilities.

Educational relevance statement

Despite the slight advantage of women over men in their creative potential (Abdulla Alabbasi et al., 2022), there is a clear advantage of men over women in terms of creative achievements (Baer & Kaufman, 2008; Hora et al., 2022). Men dominate women in real world creative achievement in areas such as mathematics, science, and engineering (Abra & Valentine-French, 1991; Piirto, 1991). Women's creative achievements, in turn, occur in such fields as performing arts, choreography, and literature (Abra & Valentine-French, 1991). Piirto (1991, p. 143) even suggests that ‘the creative world is largely a man's world.’

Explaining the reasons for the differences in the creative achievements of women and men is an important issue. It can contribute to the reduction of the phenomenon referred to as ‘losing talents’. Previous attempts to explain gender differences in creative achievements come down to the biological (Abraham, 2016; Eysenck, 1995) and the socio-cultural (Abra & Valentine-French, 1991) factors. The latter seem particularly important because they are associated with discrimination against women and the privileging of men. In the past, this was affected by fundamentally different social expectations of women and men, which were associated, among other things, with the assignment to women of roles related to running a home and caring for children, thus limiting their access to education and professional creative activity (Baer & Kaufman, 2008). These seemingly historical beliefs still function, predisposing men to undertake creative activity while imposing upon women the role of mother and domestic caretaker (Simonton, 1994). Women are still expected to take care of the home and children, which creates a conflict between their familial and professional roles (Cole & Zuckerman, 1987; Piirto, 1991). As a result, the trajectories of women's creative careers are completely different than those of creative men because, at a time when men accelerate their professional development, women are very strongly involved in the processes related to starting a family and bring up children (Piirto, 1991).

For the analyzed problem, formal education, far from creating gender equity, is also significant (Sadker, 2000). This includes the content of textbooks (Gajda & Wołowicz, 2022), teachers' beliefs about the creativity of girls and boys (Gralewski, 2019), and teachers' educational practices (Gajda et al., 2022) that reinforce gender stereotypes. It is surprising that – despite formal education with specialized teachers even lasting several years – women are inferior to men in terms of creative achievements (Baer & Kaufman, 2008; Hora et al., 2022). On this basis, the question arises: what role do teachers play in the differences of creative productivity between women and men? Why, during formal education, are teachers unable to prevent the phenomenon where females less frequently achieve the peaks of creative productivity compared to males? (Hora et al., 2022)? Therefore, the purpose of this study is to find answers to questions about whether maths and language teachers can recognize the creative potential and creative activity of male and female students, and whether there are differences in this respect that could deepen the gender gap in creative performance.